One of Us
by CaffrinLuvsDHMIS
Summary: Sequel to The Last of Our Fears. Caffrin has an unsettling dream that suddenly comes true when she, along with Harry, Robin, and Manny, become living inanimate objects themselves! Now they must team up with Tony and Notepad(a.k.a. Paige) to find a way to become humans again...but have they really been reformed, or are they still under Motherboard's control...?
1. Prologue: The Nightmare

A few weeks had passed since the Motherboard incident, and about a week or so since Harry, Robin, and Manny were held hostage by a brown, fuzzy monster creature. Luckily, the dispute was settled and the monster got his money. Now, the trio were finally living the normal life they had wanted since their first encounter with Notepad, and the other with Tony the Talking Clock.  
Now that they were gone for good - with the help of their next-door neighbor Caffrin - they can finally sleep in peace, knowing that it's all over now.

...Yet, there was still that small hint of doubt that it _wasn't._  
But they all ignored that doubt. As long as there's nothing - emphasis on _thing_ - trying to bother them, there's really nothing to worry about.

**_...Right?_**

**-0-0-**

Caffrin stared down at the hole she dug in her backyard, making sure it was deep enough. She sighed and picked up the big blue box she was planning to bury. Inside was her old laptop - Prism Catrina, as Motherboard named her - closed up and powered down.  
_'Maybe it was the laptop this whole time,'_ she thought, _'Maybe Motherboard was really some kind of virus, or the laptop was what kept her alive...or maybe Motherboard WAS the laptop...?'_  
One thing was for sure: that laptop was connected directly to the Motherboard. In fact, she probably should've just burned the motionless computer, but it just felt a little TOO mean.

Caffrin gently placed the box into the hole and sealed it back up with dirt. "That should do it," she said to herself.  
On her way back to her garage to put away the shovel, she stopped and glanced back at the hole.  
"Goodbye, Motherboard...goodbye, nightmares."  
As she went back inside, she realized she should probably buy herself a NEW computer, one that _wouldn't_ try to kill her...but not right now, just in case.

**-0-0-**

Later that night, Caffrin laid half-awake in her bed. She wasn't entirely sure what was keeping her awake, but something was bugging her. Maybe it was the lingering presence of the Dust-E-Mart floating around in her head?

About 2 weeks ago, the Dust-E-Mart had finally been demolished once and for all; there was now just an empty lot where it once stood. Hardly anyone went near it anymore; it still gave off that creepy vibe.  
Luckily, there was another store down the street, Selfridges, that was MUCH bigger and had a LOT more things to buy there.  
Even still, Caffrin was careful about what she bought.

_'Try to relax, Caffrin,'_ she thought, _'It'll all be ok...'_  
Soon enough, she was fast asleep.

**-0-0-**

_Caffrin sat at the kitchen table, a small basket right in front of her and the now-lifeless notepad to the side. There was a red triangular prism-like creature on the shelf, where it always sat. What was that thing? Was it alive? How long was it there?_  
_She never questioned it, though. It probably wasn't a good idea to say anything about it._

_Inside the basket was a bright-red ball of yarn, a green spool of thread, a lemon, and a weird-looking ragdoll with a green-striped sweater much like hers. The ragdoll had a couple of pins and needles stabbed into it, one pin going directly into the doll's head._  
_Suddenly, she heard a faint voice that said, "Please...help us..."_

_Caffrin gasped. "What...who's there?" She picked up the doll. "Was that you, little ragdoll?"_  
_The ragdoll didn't say anything. It just frowned._  
_Caffrin slowly pulled out one of the pins sticking out of its chest. The doll twitched a little, but it still had that frown stitched onto its face._  
_"Hmm...Can you hear me, ragdoll?" Caffrin asked the small lifeless ragdoll. No answer._

_Then she tried to pull out the pin sitcking out of its head. There was a loud scream, and Caffrin's hands started bleeding. She panicked and threw the doll back onto the kitchen table. Did that come from the doll?_  
_"Why," another voice rang out, "Why are you hurting us? What did we do to you?"_  
_The room started to shake. Everything was spinning, a painting on the wall started leaking black ooze. **"LEAVE US ALONE!"**_  
_"What did I do?!" Caffrin cried, **"WHAT DID I DO?!"**_

_Suddenly, complete silence._

_"...You didn't really think it was over, did you?"_

**-0-0-**

Caffrin gasped and sat up in her bed. She was back in her room. Everything was still dark; she must've had a nightmare.  
She sighed. It was the middle of the night, and she needed her beauty sleep. Caffrin fluffed her pillow and laid back down.  
But she was still wide awake.

Where did that dream come from? _What did it mean?_


	2. Chapter 1: HELPLESS

The next morning, Caffrin went outside to check her mailbox.  
She sighed. "What a crazy night...at least nothing too serious happened..."

"Good morning, Caffrin."  
Caffrin gasped and jumped back a bit. It was only Harry, still in his favorite plaid pajamas. "Oh, sorry...I didn't mean to startle you..."  
"No, it's alright; I'm fine. It's just that I had a weird dream last night. First time in almost 3 weeks."  
Harry picked up his morning newspaper and sighed. "You're not the only one. Difference is, Tony and Notepad had absolutely _nothing_ to do with it...but there was this basket and a ragdoll that looked a lot like you, and...I could've sworn I heard these voices..."

Caffrin gasped again, this time a little softer. "That's the same dream I had! And the voices...I felt like I've heard them before..."  
The cold morning air felt unusually chilly, like there was something troubling the two. Harry's crimson-scarlet hair flowed in the unnerving breeze, and felt a little shiver run down his spine. "Well, it was probably just a dream."  
"Y-yeah...but, we both had that same dream! Maybe a coincidence...?"  
"Let's hope so," Harry started back to his house. "We've been through quite a lot lately..."

"So I've noticed," caffrin opened up her mailbox. There were a few bills and junk mail, but then she saw this one envelope, embellished with a green face with a big black X on it.  
That symbol...I was the same symbol from when Harry, Robin, and Manny were help captive!  
She gasped. "Uh...Harry...

"I don't think it's all over yet."

She opened the envelope and pulled out a small sheet of paper inside - it looked like it came from that notepad.  
All it read was, _**"HELPLESS."**_  
"Wha...What the-"

_CLUNK!_

All was quiet. Dark.

The two were knocked unconscious.

**-0-0-**

Caffrin had finally regained consciousness, only to find she was standing straight upwards. "Wh...huh? What happened? Where am I?!"  
She looked around. The room was dark and filled with all different sorts of items. Caffrin was standing on a table, with what looked like a giant ball of red yarn - almost the same size as her, and there was a lemon in a huge basket.  
"The lemon...the basket...no, it _couldn't_ be-!"

She looked down at herself. She still had her green-and-white-striped shirt on...but it wasn't a shirt - it was green and white _thread!_  
Suddenly, she saw herself in a nearby mirror. She wasn't human...she was an inanimate object - a spool of green-and-white striped thread.

Caffrin screamed, waking up the ball of yarn and the lemon. "WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!"  
"What...who's there?" the ball of yarn spoke. Its voice sounded a lot like Harry.  
She turned back to them and gasped. "...G-guys? Is that you?!"  
The basket tipped over and out rolled the lemon.  
"Manny...?"  
The lemon looked around. "Oh, hey guys! I just dreamt I was a lemon..."  
Harry lifted up his string of yarn. "Manny, you _ARE_ a lemon."  
"...Huh?"

Suddenly, a dark-green bird flew over to them. "He got you guys too?!"  
"Robin? What the heck is going on?!"  
Suddenly, a familiar sight caught Harry's eye: a red flag with the green X'd-out face in the center!

"...I think I might know _part_ of the answer..."


	3. Chapter 2: Believe Us, Caffrin

It was all starting to make sense. The shaggy-brown goblin-guy who held Harry, Robin, and Manny hostage a couple weeks ago kidnapped them all again - and now Caffrin was involved!  
But why _Caffrin?_ Was it because she knew too much? She donated as much money as she could to free them; it _should've_ been enough for him to leave them alone for good!

But why would he do it again? Was it not enough?  
Or, most importantly..._why were they inanimate objects?_

"It doesn't make sense," Caffrin stared up at the flag, confused and intrigued as to what their captor wanted, "What does that crazy goblin-ish-thing want with us?" Caffrin stopped, noticing there was a needle tucked into the green-and-white threads on her left side - maybe it was her skin now?  
She decided to leave it there for now. _'Maybe it'll come in handy for later,'_ she thought.

Suddenly, they heard a faint voice that sounded awfully familiar...

"Hey...psst! Over here!" The voice whispered from behind a nearby fruit bowl. A certain clock was shuffling up to them.

**_"...Tony?!"_**  
Tony hoisted himself up. "None other," he spoke quietly, reaching for the notepad which was behind the fruit bowl, "Now, before you say anything, we don't want to hurt you. Not anymore."  
Caffrin noticed that Tony's legs have seemingly been chopped off. "Then why are you here? What happened to us...and your _legs?!_"  
Tony shushed her. "You'll have to be quiet; we don't have much time left! Here, I'll give you the short explanation:

"You see, we weren't always the objects you see us as today. We were **_humans_ **- just like you! All of us were! But then, the Motherboard came and turned us into her little objectified minions...she had control over _all _of us! Our songs, our lessons, the resulting disasters...they were all _her_ doing."  
Notepad tried to nod, but she almost flopped back onto the ground. "My name's not even _Notepad_ - it's _**Paige!**_ All I wanted to do was prove myself as a professional artist, or even an art teacher...but she took advantage of that dream and made me sing about being creative, _manipulate your minds_...I never even **_hated_ **the color green! She just _wanted_ me to make you guys believe that to prove a point!"

"But...but we destroyed Motherboard! Why are you still objects if she was the one who cursed you in the first place?!"  
Tony sighed, his clock hands drooped down a bit. "That we don't know...all we can remember is that we were both reincarnated and a strange figure picked us up and brought us here!"  
"They must've done the the same with you guys," Paige picked up a pencil. "Maybe you could help us escape, and get to the bottom of this disaster!"

Harry's little string of yarn wiggled a little bit, then pointed to Tony. "That doesn't explain why you don't have legs anymore..."  
"They cut them off...so we couldn't try to escape."  
Caffrin was unsure of whether or not she should help Tony and Paige. "OK...but...how do we know you're _really_ the good guys now?"

Paige grabbed one of her pages and lifted it up slightly. "If we weren't serious, I wouldn't have written _this_ on myself..."  
The page had some writing on it; in green crayon. It read, _"Believe us, Caffrin. We mean no harm to you...or your friends...or **anyone else.**"_  
"Hmm..." Caffrin looked back at the others and sighed. As long as they got out of this mess as well...  
"OK. As long as you help _us_ escape, then we'll help you."  
Paige smiled warmly. "Thank you, Caffrin."

A loud slam was heard as the door opened up - the shaggy man was back, carrying a big green book. He put it down next to the basket and growled at it, having not noticed Caffrin or the others, who were possibly out of their positions.  
Caffrin got a glimpse of the man's nametag - General Trevvor Markovia II. She tried not to say anything - but she felt as though she's heard that name before...

Finally, Trevvor left the room and closed the door again.  
Tony sighed. "That was _too_ close..."

Caffrin shuffled over to the book - it was labelled "**OBJECT PUPPETEER:** A Becky Sloan Biography".  
Object Puppeteer...did that mean...was she...?!  
"Guys, I think this book might be able to at least help us become human again!" She struggled while trying to lift up the cover. "Help me open it up."

**-0-0-**

After flipping through a few pages, Caffrin found a section explaining her 'career'. She read the first paragraph:

_"After discovering her gift of 're-animation', she brought several inanimate objects to life in hopes of helping children learn the basics of life and education. However, a mysterious incident with one of her failed experiments occurred which caused the other living objects she had created to behave differently. They became twisted and hostile, devastating millions of young children - some of which were institutionalized - and Sloan disappeared, never to be seen again. It is said that she now resides in an old wooden cottage located deep in an abandoned clearing behind Selfridges..."_

Caffrin turned herself back toward the others. "_That's it!_ This girl might have our answer!"  
Paige and Tony stared at the spool of thread, then glanced back at the book in awe and intrigue. _Sloan_...that name **_did_ **sound familiar!  
"So, all we have to do is find this Becky Sloan lady and see if she can change us all back to humans!"  
"Exactly."  
Harry looked around the small but crowded room. "But how are we supposed to get to Selfridges from here?"

Suddenly, a goofy-but-strangely-familiar-sounding voice spoke to them.  
"Don't be silly, guys..._you're already here!_"


	4. Chapter 3: Taking Flight

There, perched up on the wall above them, was a large yellow circle smiling and wearing a pink-and-red hat. Next to the circle was an angry-looking red triangle with a yellow bowtie.  
It was Happy Circle and Angry Triangle, from the Selfridges window display.

The circle looked down at them. "Hi, guys! What brings you to the storage room?"  
"Circle, you idiot! They were kidnapped - _just like us!_" The triangle growled.  
"Oh..."

"The _'storage room'_?" Caffrin said, "You mean we're **_in_ **Selfridges _right now?_"  
Circle giggled. "No, silly...you're in the _storage room!_"  
Triangle groaned at Circle's ignorance. "**YES,** we're in Selfridges. This is the storage room for Selfridges _products_, OK Circle? Do you get it now?"  
Happy Circle's smile faded a bit, then grew again. "Nope!"  
_"Circle...!"_

Tony interrupted the two shapes' argument. "We don't have time for this; we need to find that wooden cottage!"  
Both the shapes gasped simultaneously. "You mean Becky's house...? Why do you need to go _there?_"  
"We have to find her and get her to change us back into humans. Do you have any idea where exactly the cottage is?"  
Happy Circle paused for a moment, continuing to smile. "Nope, not a clue!"  
Angry Triangle sighed. "It's a _**cottage;**_ I'm pretty sure you'll know it when you see it. Look for the orange trees, and I'm sure you'll find it, alright?"  
Paige smiled. "Thanks, guys. I knew we could count on you."  
Happy Circle giggled again. "Wow, Tri'...I didn't know you could be so nice. That makes me _happy~!_"  
"Shut up, Circle."

"But now we have to figure out how to get out of the storage room to the cottage..."  
Caffrin looked around. "Yeah, that's right...hmm..."  
Then she saw a small window, just big enough for them to climb through.  
"That's it, guys...**_I've got an idea!_**"

**-0-0-**

"But I don't even know _how_ to fly," Robin squawked, "And you guys might be too heavy for me to carry!"  
Caffrin lifted Manny and Harry up onto his back. "You're a **_bird_**, Robin; of _course_ you can fly!" She secured herself and held onto Robin's neck. "It's worth a shot, and it may be the only shot we have!"  
"OK, as long as you're sure..."  
"Go on without us," Paige said, "Trust me on this. It'll be much easier on you - _and_ Robin's back - if we stay behind. Hopefully you'll be able to bring the cure back to us..."  
Tony smiled. "We're counting on you all. There's not much time to waste."

Caffrin gave them a thumbs-up. "Good thinking, Paige. We'll be just fine."  
With that, Robin spreaded out his wings and flew off straight ahead.  
Trevvor saw them fly away and ran outside with a BB gun. "Come back here, slaves! You can't leave me!" He fired up into the air, aiming for Robin.

Caffrin looked back and gasped. "Trevvor's coming after us - _and he's got a gun!_"  
_**"What?!"**_  
"He's gonna try and shoot us down!"  
"Oh no, he _won't...!_"

Caffrin grabbed onto Robin's wings and swerved him to the right, dodging a BB pellet. "Hold on tight, guys..._we're almost there!_"  
Up ahead were a few orange trees. Robin flew down lower into the branches, in search of the cottage. He perched onto one of the branches. "Do you see anything?"  
"Not yet..."

Harry pointed his string into the distance at what appeared to be a big pile of wood. "Maybe it's _that_ thing, over there?"  
Suddenly, they heard the sounds of a BB gun firing grew louder and closer. Caffrin held onto Manny for dear life as Robin swooped at the pile of wood, which was really an old beaten-up shack. The words **"BECKY SLOAN: OBJECT PUPPETEER"** were faintly carved into the door.

Caffrin nodded. "This must be it."


	5. Chapter 4: Becky Sloan, Object Puppeteer

The door creaked open and Robin swooped inside, closing the door tight in case the shaggy brown monster was still after them. Caffrin looked around; no sign of life to be seen. The cottage was almost completely empty; save for a few books and assorted materials lying around on a big table. One of the books read **"BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS - by Becky Sloan."**

Upon close inspection, the book was actually some kind of journal describing all the inanimate objects she had created.  
One entry showed a picture of a young gentleman and a beautiful woman with a white smock and multi-colored streaks in her hair. Under the picture was a caption that read:

"**ANTONIO TIEMPUS CLOCKINGHAM AND PAIGE SKECHERRINA:** Missing as of 6-19-55"

Caffrin gasped. "Is that..._Tony?_ And _**Paige?!**_"  
Harry looked down at the picture in shock; yet it was barely noticeable. "So it was all _Becky Sloan's_ doing this whole time...?"  
"But it couldn't be...what about _**Motherboard?!**_"

Just then, a light flashed and flickered in the other room. Faint screaming was heard, as a young woman stepped out nervously, mumbling and twitching. The object group watched in horror as she walked over to one of the other books with a panicked look on her face.  
Caffrin tried to get her attention. "Um, excuse me-"

The woman shrieked and dropped the book, forcing herself into a corner trembling. "Wh-what are you doing here? I didn't mean it! Really!"  
"Are you Becky Sloan?"  
The woman looked ready to break down into tears. "Y-yes...that's me. You're not here to kill me off, are you?"

Caffrin looked back at the others. "Well, _no_...We just wanted to ask you if you could turn us back into humans. You _can_ change us back, right...?"  
Becky gulped and her voice grew shakier. "N-no, I can't...it's not possible! It can't be reversed!"

A long silence filled the room - aside from the flickering light in the other room - as Becky tried to pull herself together. She crawled closer to the group. "There is _one_ way...but they won't _allow_ me to tell _**anyone!**_"  
"...Who's _'they'_?" Caffrin whispered, "Do you mean the other objects?"

Becky whimpered. "Y-yes. My assistant, Joe...he _tried_ to stop them, but he _**couldn't**_...now he's a red triangle thing...!"  
Caffrin gasped. He must've been the same red triangular prism from back home, on the kitchen shelf! "Well, maybe _I_ can still stop them. I've done it _before_, remember guys?" She looked back at the others.  
Robin nodded. "You made that 'Striped-Sweater Swear' to keep us safe."  
Manny chimed in. "It was the coolest thing ever - _and_ you saved my dad!"  
Harry smiled slightly, though it still wasn't noticeable. "It _was_ kinda cool..."  
Caffrin smiled back. "Thanks, guys."

She turned back to Becky. "So how do we stop them, and turn ourselves back into humans?"  
Becky calmed down a bit and stopped twitching. "Well...Motherboard...she had these wires and switches. If you can cut off the wires _completely_, and switch her off-"  
The cottage rumbled and shook. Becky shrieked and ran for the door, twitching more and more until she finally collapsed before she could reach the doorknob.

Suddenly, the door opened up.

"Becky, Becky, Becky...we're quite disappointed in you. You should know _better_ than to tell secrets to _strangers_..."  
The brown monster stepped in, holding Tony and Paige.

"Though I suppose it was only a matter of **_TIME..._**"


	6. Chapter 5: Betrayal

Tony's legs extended out of his body and he stood himself up. "Thank you so much for the assistance, Trevvor. We can handle everything from here."  
The shaggy brown man released his grip on Tony and he handed Paige over to the clock with a grunt.  
Paige grinned. "Don't worry...your check will be in the mail."

Suddenly, Caffrin realized where she had seen that name before...

**-0-0-**

_It was a cold summer evening, almost a week after the first incident with Motherboard. Harry, Robin and Manny had invited Caffrin over to their house to watch their favorite show - and she could certainly see why. It was quite an interesting show; and it certainly caught Caffrin's interest. She smiled. Harry had a really good taste in television._

_Suddenly, the show was interrupted by an emergency broadcast._  
_After about five or six years, the real cause of Manny's mother's death had finally been exposed: an old waterlogged 8-ball was uncovered along with her drowned and lifeless body, shaking and glowing mysteriously. The police reported that the 8-ball had somehow channeled suicidal thoughts into her, leading her to jump off the bridge on purpose._

_A friend of Manny's mom, who had witnessed her talking to the magic 8-ball several times, said that it was given to her by a large man with long, shaggy-brownish fur._

_Further investigation showed that the man's name was Trevvor Markovia II, who was taken into custody for questioning._

_Caffrin gasped in horror. The 8-ball...it must've been one of the living objects Motherboard had created - they **DID** kill Manny's mom!_  
_'...But who was this Trevvor guy?' she thought, 'He wasn't working for **them**...**was** he?!'_

**-0-0-**

"You...you..._**LIARS!**_" Caffrin snapped back to reality. "You said you had changed; you promised you wouldn't hurt us - or _anyone_ - ever again! How could you betray us like that?!"  
Paige chuckled. "Pretty clever ruse, wasn't it? _So_ much more _**creative** _than simply killing you off for good!

"You see, _'friends'...**we were never killed off to begin with.**_ Motherboard was only **_shut down_**, not _destroyed_, and we were still back in the house when we were teleported back home. There, we decided to form a new, more dastardly scheme to rid you all - and besides, your little 'Journey to Learny' still wasn't finished! We had _much_ more planned for you - and those plans simply couldn't just go to waste. So, there we sat, pretending to be dormant and lifeless. But we were still watching..._waiting...**plotting our next move.**_  
"Eventually, we had finally created the perfect plan: since you all knew too much about our motives, we might as well make you one of _us_ - and with Motherboard's approval, we took you away and made you into what you are now - or should I say, what you _will_ be for **_the rest of your lives._**"

Paige continued, "But to make this plan complete, we had to gain your trust. We only **_pretended_ **to be nice to you, and _supposedly_ go along with your little 'escape mission', so you would all understand that there was absolutely **_no_ **way out of it - you're one of us now, and you must learn to _accept_ it. However, Becky here couldn't hold up _her_ end of the deal - isn't that right, Sloan? Weren't you supposed to keep your mouth shut about all this, and pretend to have _**no idea**_ what they were talking about?"

Becky trembled under the clock's feet. "I-I'm sorry, Paige - I mean, _Notepad_ - I mean, _**SKETCHBOOK** _- but I _had_ to tell them - _I **really** did!_ This was all a mistake from the start; I should've _never_ done this..._Please _don't tell Motherboard! I'll do **_anything!_**"  
Tony glared down at the poor defenseless puppeteer. "I'm sorry, Miss Sloan, but there's nothing I can do. After all, it's not in _my_ hands; I'm only a _clock_. But don't worry, I'm sure Motherboard will know _just_ what to do with snitches like you..."

Becky began crying hysterically, begging him to let her go as Tony picked her up over his long arm, while carrying Paige in his other hand. He took them into the other room, and more lights flickered and the cottage shook harder. The screams - clearly coming from Becky - were much louder than before, which eventually grew softer as the shaking and flickering died down along with them.

Caffrin's expression of shock and fear quickly turned into one of pure anger and vengeance. The green threads on her 'skin' started glowing faintly but violently. She climbed back onto Robin. "Motherboard must be in the other room. C'mon guys," she lifted Harry up onto the dark-green bird and set him down right behind her, _"We have to stop this **once and for all!**"_


	7. Chapter 6: The Return of Motherboard

The lights grew brighter as Robin flew closer to the room. Caffrin grabbed a pair of wire-cutters from a nearby shelf as they swooped in to find a small wooden marionette puppet resembling Becky lying on the ground, twitching and mumbling. Paige and Tony were laughing maniacally as Tony picked up the wooden puppet.  
"If you can't be happy with your life as a puppeteer," Tony's eyes started glowing as he held Becky closer to his face, "Perhaps you'll enjoy having someone _else_ pull at your strings!"

A large monitor stared down at the three from the wall in front of them, with Motherboard's disturbingly familiar face, only now, her eyes were a much darker shade of red. The monitor itself wasn't as big as it was in their last encounter with Motherboard, but to Caffrin and the other objects, it seemed a _lot_ bigger.  
"Good work, you two," Motherboard's shrill voice rang out, "She _deserved_ to go anyway; we don't need her anymore."

_**"MOTHERBOARD!"**_ Caffrin cried out as Robin perched himself onto a desk, "We meet again, after all this time, we thought you were destroyed _for good!_"  
The monitor chuckled. "Foolish mortal; you only powered me down. A minor setback, yes, but that's never stopped me before...!"  
Tony set Becky down on a table next to a small lamp. "It seems your resistance is becoming _quite_ a problem, friends..."

The clock grinned as Robin's feathers turned grey and molted off of his body. Manny's skin faded from bright-lemon yellow to a bruised yellow-green color; he was becoming over-ripened and now starting to rot. Harry's strings of red yarn began falling apart and looking more and more raggedy. Caffrin's green threads started glowing faintly, but then began to fade away as her body ached, and the pain kept getting worse...

"You see, friends? There's no stopping us. And if you're going to waste our time...well..." Tony grinned, "I suppose **_your_ **time is up."  
Caffrin groaned, trying to keep herself steady. She remembered the needle she has tucked into her thread and pulled it out, aiming for Tony.

_'I have **one** shot at this...'_ Caffrin thought, concentrating on her target. With a flick of her wrist, she threw the needle, lodging itself into Tony's left eye. He screamed in pain and fell over while the others were restored and no longer decaying. Caffrin grabbed the wire-cutters hopped back onto Robin. "Fly me over to those wires - _quick!_"  
The bird nodded and swooped past Paige and headed for the table under Motherboard, wires tangled against one another with a set of buttons and switches - the biggest one read **"POWER"**. Caffrin started to cut off the wires, causing Motherboard to grow weaker...and _angrier_.

_"STOP THAT!"_ she screamed, _"STOP IT **NOW!**"_  
Paige reached for her pencil to throw at them, but the wooden puppet smacked it away.  
"I can't let you stop them," Becky stood herself up. "You're not the artist I _wanted_ you to be - and I want you to be **_human_ **again."

After Caffrin cut off the last wire that was connected to her, Motherboard screamed one last time as her eyes stopped glowing, fading into a dark grey. Her monitor started to glitch, and Robin perched onto the big power switch.  
"_Wait_ - one more thing...," Becky called out to them.

"...Thank you."

Caffrin smiled and helped Robin lower the switch, shutting Motherboard off completely. This time, _for good._  
Motherboard's screen started cracking, a bright yellow light shined threw them. Caffrin's threads started to glow brighter and her form started to change.

As the light consumed the room, she felt herself becoming human once again.


	8. Chapter 6-5: How It Started

_Becky sat at her desk, wondering what to bring to life next. She glanced at the clock up on the wall, and then at the notepad resting in the bookshelf next to her. Maybe she could make something educational out of those...?_

_'Time and Creativity...those are **very** important lessons to learn,' she thought. The young girl smiled and gathered the two lifeless objects, setting them down on the desk in front of her. She gathered her thoughts and concentrated on bringing them both to life; first the notepad, then the clock._

**-0-0-**

_Paige took a deep breath and went into the large building. She clenched onto her portfolio as tight as possible, hoping to impress the manager of the building; to become the artist she had dreamed of; to have her paintings on display at museums worldwide. She wanted to be recognized for her artistic talents._

_Her hair, streaked with many bright colors, swished behind her as she made her way through the crowds of tourists and visitors until she finally reached the manager's office._  
_Paige hesitated for a brief moment, worried that she might be rejected. It took a few minutes for her to collect herself and gather enough courage. 'I can do this,' she thought, 'The worst that could happen is being rejected.'_  
_She knocked on the door, waiting nervously for a response. "Come in," she finally heard._

_The manager - Mr. Mallentar - was sitting at his desk, smiling as the door to his office opened up and Paige stepped in carrying her portfolio. She sat down at one of the chairs facing him, smiling politely._  
_"Hello, Mr. Mallentar. I'm here for the interview we discussed earlier this week."_

_"Ah, yes," Mr. Mallentar exclaimed, pushing his chair closer to the desk. "Now, before I consider hiring you, I need to see what sort of art you can provide for this museum. Have you brought your portfolio?"_  
_Paige nodded. "I made sure to include some of my best work, sir."_  
_She pulled out one of her paintings; a beautiful landscape made completely from different shades and hues of green. There were trees and flowers, but there were also buildings and cars in the background. It was like a picture of a forest located just outside a big, bustling city._  
_"Well, what do you think? I call it, 'Creative Greens'." The woman smiled and handed Mr. Mallentar the painting._

_He examined the picture closely, pondering and studying each detail carefully._  
_'He seems pretty deep in thought,' Paige thought, 'I bet that's a good sign.'_

_Finally, he handed the painting back to her. "I don't like it. There's a little too much **green.**"_  
_"W-**what?!**" she took the painting from his hand. "But...but that's what the painting's all about! It's **supposed** to be green - it's a very **creative** and **expressive** color! I thought you would like my kind of creativity..."_  
_Mr. Mallentar shook his head. "I'm sorry, Miss Skeccherina...but it just doesn't capture my interest. This interview is over; please leave my office immediately."_

_Paige sighed and picked up her portfolio. "I understand. Thanks anyway, Mr. Mallentar..."_  
_She left the office and closed the door behind her. Suddenly, a strange new feeling ran through her body - like it was being transformed into something...**different.** Her vision faded, and the last thing she was were several different colored lights..._

**-0-0-**

_A dapper-looking man was polishing his many clocks, testing each one to make sure it worked. Suddenly, he heard the bell on his front desk ring. A customer was waiting for him._

_He exited the back room and greeted the woman with a smile. "Welcome to Clockingham's Clock Emporium; what can I do for you today, miss?"_  
_"Hey, Tony. I just thought I'd drop by to see how business is going with you."_  
_Tony chuckled warmly. "Well, it's been quite **slow** lately. Most customers these days just come in for repairs or returns."_  
_The woman raised her eyebrows. "Returns? I thought clocks were a **major necessity** for keeping time, why would anyone wanna get rid of them?"_  
_Tony sighed and continued polishing one of his clocks. "I suppose not everyone believes how important **time itself** is...even though their time of **existence** constantly ticks away, unaware that it will eventually run out and..."_

_The woman interrupted him. "OK, no need to get all existential. Here, tell you what, **I'll** buy one of your clocks. How's that sound?"_  
_"But...you already have so many..."_  
_The woman smiled. "You can **never** have too many clocks, and you can never be **too** cautious with **time.**"_  
_Tony smiled and set down the clock in his hand. "Alright then. Which one would you like?"_

_Before he could get an answer, Tony began to feel dizzy and lightheaded. He collapsed to the ground, but not before having a vision - clocks, clocks, and **more** clocks. Gears. **Time.** **More** clocks. Time, clocks, gears...it all faded to black as he fell to the floor._

**-0-0-**

_The clock slowly opened his eyes to see a girl staring down at him. She smiled. "It **worked!** I did it!"_  
_The notepad lifted herself up, swerving a little bit. She still felt dizzy, and now she had a headache. "Wh...who are you?"_  
_"Well, I'm Becky Sloan. I created you two to help encourage children to learn and discover new things - like arts and crafts, or telling time!"_

_The clock stretched out his arms and legs and sat up. "Well...it's nice to meet you, Becky. My name is Antonio Tiempus Clockingham...but you can just call me Tony._  
_The notepad smiled. "And I'm Paige. Paige Skecherrina."_

_Becky picked up the notepad and set her down next to some miscellaneous crafting materials. "Well, I'll just call you Sketchbook. Or would you prefer being called Notepad? I guess it doesn't really matter..."_  
_Paige picked up a pencil. "It's alright; I don't mind. Maybe I could show you a demonstration of how **creative** I can be?"_

_Becky shook her head. "Maybe later. First, I need to check on one of my other projects."_

**-0-0-**

_A small laptop sat on a wooden table, a face displayed on the monitor smiling happily. Becky walked into the room and sat in front of the computer._  
_"Good morning, Prism Catrina. How are you today?"_  
_The monitor switched to display a file labelled 'Motherboard v1.3'. "The program you told me to download has just finished installation!"_

_"Great!" Becky moved the mouse over the file. "I hope this can help keep all my projects organized..."_  
_"Just a little heads-up, Becky," Catrina warned, "There was a bit of trouble downloading the file. Maybe some kind of virus?"_  
_Becky paused. "Oh dear...but I'm sure it's nothing **too** serious...**right?**"_

_The very second she clicked on the file, the computer's monitor glitched and shut itself off._  
_She watched in shock and horror as the laptop shook and stuttered. Finally, when the screen went black, Becky sat in silence at what she had just witnessed. Suddenly, the monitor lit up again, this time displaying a much different face..._  
_The face twitched for a moment. "I...am **alive...**"_

_Becky gasped and started to back away from the table, into the other room. Suddenly, she heard distorted laughter coming from the computer as wires snaked into the room and connected themselves to Tony, Paige, and all the other objects she had brought to life._

_Becky screamed and ran to the laptop to try and shut it off. Before she could reach the power button, another wire wrapped itself around her and restrained her._  
_"Well, well, well, Becky...," Motherboard's voice was rough and distorted in Becky's ear._

_"It looks like I have some fear to spread...starting with **you!**"_


	9. Chapter 7: How It Ends

The horrific flashback soon cleared away and left Becky's mind. She woke up to see the sky had become a light-blue - almost completely white. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, only to find her hands were no longer wooden - they were human and fleshy again.  
Becky looked around to find a bunch of people, all of which looking like the objects she had brought to life, including Harry, Robin, Manny, and Caffrin.  
She gasped at the sudden realization at what had happened - she was rescued by a green-striped spool of thread...or as she was now, a light-brown-haired girl wearing a green-striped sweater.

"You...you did it...," Becky's astonished face grew a warm smile. She crawled closer to the girl. "You've _saved_ us."  
Caffrin opened her eyes slowly, her vision still adjusting to the light. "Huh...I...I _did?_"  
The cabin was gone. All that was left was the clearing, the orange trees, and a little needle beside her.  
She smiled. "I **_did..._**"

The two stood up. Everyone around them was starting to regain consciousness as well.  
Tony, who was laying next to Paige, rubbed his head softly. Paige shielded her eyes from the sky's warmth and brightness. "Where...where am I?"  
Caffrin nodded at Becky and they helped the two stand up. "Are you guys alright?"

Paige took just one glance at Caffrin and gasped. Tears started to flow from her eyes as she began to cry.  
_"I'm sorry."_ Those were the only words that came out of Paige's mouth as she hugged Caffrin tightly.  
Caffrin smiled, a tear ran down her cheek and she hugged the now-human artist back. "It's OK...I know."

Two other boys watched on as many of the other re-born humans got up and left. The younger boy with blond hair and a pink-and-red-striped hat wiped a teardrop from his cheek. "Aww...I _love_ happy endings, don't you, Trent?"  
The older sharp-red-haired boy with the yellow bowtie stood next to him and nudged him angrily. "Shut up, Carl. Let's go home."  
"OK, Trent." Carl smiled and followed Trent out of the forest. "No need to be so _angry_, you know~!"  
"**_Carl..._**"

Harry, Robin, and Manny were the last to wake up. "Huh...what happened?"  
Caffrin looked down at them with a smile. "I _told_ you guys I'd _never_ break a Striped-Sweater Swear."

Becky approached the four. "Uhh...I'm sorry about all this; Motherboard, my creations trying to kill you, having _you all_ become objects as well..._**all** of it!_ I should've _never_ installed Motherboard in the first place..."  
Caffrin placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's OK, Becky...you didn't know. But all that matters now is that it's all over _for real_, we're all still alive, and I can _definitely_ say this is the last time we'll have to deal with that evil Motherboard."  
"Thank you, Miss...I didn't even get your name..."  
Caffrin hugged Becky tightly. "You can just call me Caffrin."  
Manny, Robin, and Harry joined them. Becky started to sob and hugged them all tightly.

A few minutes later, the group hug unhinged itself. "Well, I guess we all have lives to get back to, don't we?"  
Becky nodded. "I'm going back to my old job as a preschool teacher - and I'll do it _the **right** way_ this time!"  
"I wish you my best, Becky."  
"Goodbye, Caffrin."

With one final wave goodbye, she trailed off and disappeared into the orange trees.  
Manny looked up at Caffrin. "Do you think we'll ever see again?"  
Caffrin smiled and nodded. "I hope so, Manny...I _really_ hope so."

**-0-0-**

Trent and Carl stumbled through the trees. Every now and then, Carl would get distracted by an squirrel or a butterfly, and then Trent would have to slap him and get him to focus on finding their way back home.  
"So Trent," Carl smiled, "how do you think Mom's gonna react when we tell her were we've been?"  
"I bet she'll be _angry_ that we were gone for so long..."  
"Yeah, but maybe she'll also be _relieved_ that we're OK!"  
Trent struggled as he pushed a tree branch out of the way. "Carl, we've been gone for **_years._** Do you even think she'll recognize us?"  
"Yeah! She'll recognize us as the guys on the Selfridges window display!"  
Trent stopped and glared at the younger boy. "...Carl, you are an **_idiot._**"  
"I know, Tren-Ooh, look! A _butterfly!_"

The blond-haired boy chased after the butterfly, leaving Trent to go after him. "Carl, get back here _right now!_"  
They ran off, hoping to reach civilization after so many years of being trapped in that window display...and maybe catch that butterfly, too.


End file.
